The present invention generally relates to wireless communication devices, and particularly relates to receiving broadcast signals in such devices, such as broadcast radio and television signals.
Consumer expectations of ever-increasing performance and convenience coupled with simultaneous expectations of ever decreasing size and cost establish significant challenges for designers of portable devices. Nowhere are such pressures felt more keenly than in the arena of wireless communication device design.
Functional lines blur and product categories stretch with the continuous introduction of new portable wireless devices that merge multiple functions. Ready examples of such merged products come easily to mind. Personal Information Managers (PIMS) includes cellular radiotelephones or vice versa, handheld computers include wireless network and cellular radio interfaces, mobile terminals include cameras, and the list goes on.
Wireless communication devices that include AM/FM radios represent one seemingly natural merger of product types. Consumers might be expected to appreciate the ability to listen to the radio while not using their wireless devices for other purposes. Indeed, the more functions provided by a single device, the less other devices are needed and the more that single device becomes integrated into everyday lifestyle. Unfortunately, the integration of such secondary functions into a device that already faces tremendous constraints on cost, size, battery life, and time to market, may make already challenging design goals impossible to meet.